Live data from Hacker News

String of recent killings linked to Bay Area 'Zizians'

sfgate.com

131–140 of 952 posts

Re: String of recent killings linked to Bay Area 'Zizians'

#131
post #49

Most of the news coverage I've seen of this story is omitting what some might consider a relevant detail: almost all the members of this group are trans. This is a divisive topic, but failing to mention this makes me worry a story is pushing a particular agenda rather than trying to tell the facts. Here's what the story looks like if the trans activism is considered central to the story: https://thepostmillennial.com…

In what way is this supposed to be a relevant detail? Unless you think that they are killing people because they are trans, why should you report that they are part of a marginalized group? If they were mostly blondes or had freckles, should that be part of the story too?

They're over-represented by ~1000x compared to background population; that's relevant.

Re: String of recent killings linked to Bay Area 'Zizians'

#132
post #49

Most of the news coverage I've seen of this story is omitting what some might consider a relevant detail: almost all the members of this group are trans. This is a divisive topic, but failing to mention this makes me worry a story is pushing a particular agenda rather than trying to tell the facts. Here's what the story looks like if the trans activism is considered central to the story: https://thepostmillennial.com…

I think the relevance of their transness is not very significant.

The lesswrong apocalypse cult has been feeding people's mental illness for years. Their transness likely made them more outsiders to the cult proper, so e.g. they didn't get diverted off into becoming Big Yud's BSDM "math pets" like other women in the cult.

I doubt they are significantly more mentally ill than other members of the cult they just had less support to channel their vulnerability into forms more beneficial to the cult leaders.

Yudkowsky wrote an editorial in Time advocating for the use of nuclear weapons against civilians to prevent his imagined AI doomsday... and people are surprised that some of his followers didn't get the memo that think-pieces are for only for navel gazing. If not for the fact that the goal of cult leaders is generally to freeze their victims into inaction and compliance we probably would have seen more widespread murder as a result of Yud cult's violent rhetoric.

Re: String of recent killings linked to Bay Area 'Zizians'

#133
post #49

Most of the news coverage I've seen of this story is omitting what some might consider a relevant detail: almost all the members of this group are trans. This is a divisive topic, but failing to mention this makes me worry a story is pushing a particular agenda rather than trying to tell the facts. Here's what the story looks like if the trans activism is considered central to the story: https://thepostmillennial.com…

In what way is this supposed to be a relevant detail? Unless you think that they are killing people because they are trans, why should you report that they are part of a marginalized group? If they were mostly blondes or had freckles, should that be part of the story too?

[flagged]

Re: String of recent killings linked to Bay Area 'Zizians'

#135

How does a 27-year-old fail to kill an 80-year-old with a samurai sword?

Probably by trying to do it from first principles.

Living in a container, playing with a Samurai sword… Neal we need you to go on TV and tell these people to quit fooling around.

Re: String of recent killings linked to Bay Area 'Zizians'

#136

What I find interesting about these cases and the seemingly unrelated United Healthcare CEO assassination is that all were committed by extremely online data scientists who went to elite universities. I’ve been fairly skeptical of the right wing narrative that these schools have been “radicalized” (seeing as universities and young people have always been the hotbeds of leftist thought, how soon we forget the hippie m…

Probably because they are focusing on "artificial intelligence destroying humanity", as the article says? Many data scientists work on AI nowadays.

Re: String of recent killings linked to Bay Area 'Zizians'

#137

How does a 27-year-old fail to kill an 80-year-old with a samurai sword?

They brought a sword to a gun fight. Presumably they would have killed the landlord on the first go if he hadn't managed to shoot and kill on of the assailants first.

But it seems they went back later and finished the job. (He survived the original attack, only to be subsequently successfully murdered)

Re: String of recent killings linked to Bay Area 'Zizians'

#139
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The NY Post tried to frame them as "radical leftist", but that's a big stretch. I don't think most rationalists would consider themselves leftist. The article also seems to be leaning into the current "trans panic" - pretty typical for the NYP.

> I don't think most rationalists would consider themselves leftist Yes they do. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf5FqX6XBJlfOShMd3U...

1.6% Marxist

Did you confuse Liberal with Leftist? Liberals are anti-left

Some portion are Libertarian but there's no distinction between so-called "ancap" and libcom so that one is murky or more often coded for the former (the Libertarian party in the US is anti-left)

Post reply on HN